Olympics | Swimming: Backstroke gold 'blast' for Franklin

Tuesday

Jul 31, 2012 at 12:01 AMJul 31, 2012 at 12:52 PM

LONDON - The most remarkable thing about 17-year-old Missy "The Missile" Franklin is not that she won a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke yesterday, her second medal at these Olympics after taking bronze over the weekend in the 400 freestyle relay.

LONDON — The most remarkable thing about 17-year-old Missy “The Missile” Franklin is not that she won a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke yesterday, her second medal at these Olympics after taking bronze over the weekend in the 400 freestyle relay. It isn’t that she won it 14 minutes after swimming a 200-meter freestyle semifinal heat, tough as that certainly was.

No, the reason America will be amazed by this teenager from suburban Denver over the next few days is that she is so normal outside the pool.

She still swims for Regis Jesuit High School. She plans to return for her senior year no matter how many medals she wins in the seven events in which she is entered.

“I can’t wait to get back to Regis, it’s the most amazing place in the world,” she said.

In June, she stuffed her size-13 feet into fancy shoes and attended her junior prom. She has turned down more than $100,000 in endorsements to maintain her amateur status because she still is contemplating college. She is an A-student. Like many girls her age, she loves One Direction and Justin Bieber. She polishes her nails in bright colors. And, word is she still travels with a teddy bear.

The 6-foot-1 champion giggled as she met with reporters just after the race, incredulous at what had just transpired. Olympic record-holder Emily Seebohm of Australia was at world-record pace at the turn and appeared headed for the victory, but Franklin overtook her in the final 25 meters and reached the wall in 58.33 seconds, an American record. Seebohm settled for silver in 58.68, and Aya Terakawa of Japan took bronze.

“(The Olympic experience) is exceeding my expectations one hundred billion times over,” Franklin said. “I couldn’t be happier. I had a blast out there.”

Later in the news conference, she couldn’t stop smiling. At one point, she took the gold medal out of her pocket, showed it to the gathered reporters and declared: “Isn’t it pretty?”

Franklin said she nearly lost her composure on the medal podium during the national anthem. She came close to crying, and forgot the words at one point.

“It feels absolutely incredible, I’ve dreamed about this moment my whole life and I can’t believe that just happened,” she said. “I never thought I’d be able to do it at 17 and I couldn’t be happier right now. It’s absolutely indescribable. I just saw that No. 1 and after imagining that happening for so long it just doesn’t seem real. You still feel like you’re dreaming.”

The fact that she swam two events with 14 minutes in between impressed even American star Michael Phelps. He sought her out afterward and gave her a high five, telling her he couldn’t imagine how she did that, having never had less than 30 minutes between races himself.

Heading into these Olympics, Franklin was considered the future star of American swimming. Turns out, she was ahead of schedule.

She swims again today in the 200 freestyle final.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.